Politicians in Aldershot and Farnborough have voted to award themselves an inflation-busting pay rise.

While council employees have been offered a below-inflation rise of 2.45%, effectively amounting to a cut in take-home pay, Tories voted at a full meeting of Rushmoor Borough Council on Thursday last week to raise their basic salaries by 6.1%.

Unions reacted with outrage at the rises decided just a week after council staff took two days of strike action to demand a better pay deal.

Councillors of all parties will now be entitled to take a £4,950 allowance a year, including an automatic entitlement to expenses for phone bills and computers of £350.

The allowances will rise automatically in line with inflation in future years.

On top of his basic salary, the leader of the council, Peter Moyle, will get £12,500, which is 11.6% more than his previous special responsibility allowance. The changes mean that, excluding expenses, all 42 councillors will be taking £304,200 out of the council’s budget each year, a bill of more than £9 for every household in the borough.

Caroline Villiers, Rushmoor representative for Unison, the union representing local government staff, called the increases “outrageous”.

“Councillors should look closely at their consciences at a time when the staff who are sitting in their meetings are only being offered a 2.45% pay rise,” she said. “If they can afford to award themselves 6.1%, we would ask them to support Unison’s call to raise the offer to staff to a similar level. I am sure our members would like a 6.1% increase.

“It is the frontline council staff who make sure their residents get good quality services in their wards, and it is increasingly hard for Rushmoor to recruit and retain professional staff when wages are so low.”

Rushmoor said 20 staff went on strike, but Unison said many more workers stayed at home on leave in support.

Speaking during the debate on Thursday, Cllr Moyle defended the Tories’ decision to accept the proposals of an independent remuneration panel.

“This has been a thorough review which has been fairly and sensibly completed,” he said. “It strikes the right balance between restraint and reward and will not impact on council tax calculations.”

Cllr Moyle added that while his salary was due to go up, it was to reflect the extra work involved in his position. Other council leaders’ allowances, for committee chairmen and cabinet members, were being cut or frozen at current levels, he said.

The leader was supported by his Conservative colleagues.

Empress ward represen-tative Cllr David Clifford thought he was “good value” for his residents.

“I think I should be paid double or treble for what I am doing,” the Tory said. “I don’t think we have got anything to be ashamed of. We need to get councillors with a more diverse background into the council.”

Cllr Mike Smith said it was “hypocrisy” for any councillor to object to the plans and then accept a pay rise.

“The vast majority of speakers should be offering the public a full refund for their present and past perform-ances,” the Grange ward Conservative said.

Both the Liberal Democrat and Labour groups rejected the planned pay hike, with Lib Dems proposing an amendment to freeze pay at current levels, and Labour suggesting a 2.45% rise, in line with the offer made to council staff. The Tory majority in the council chamber voted against both suggestions, ensuring both proposals were soundly beaten.

Lib Dem Cllr Neville Dewey said: “We are not in this arena for financial gain and it is impotant that we set an example.

“With the financial situation as it is I cannot support an increase in our allowances.”

Fellow Liberal Democrat Crispin Allard, who represents St Mark’s, added: “If this were truly an independent decision I would be willing to accept it, but that is not the case.

“This is our decision to take and we are writing our own pay cheques. We would be voting to accept a substantial above-inflation pay increase.”

Keith Dibble, leader of the Labour group, said he “won’t be able to look council employees in the eye” if he took a pay increase above that of front-line staff.

Aldershot’s North Town representative offered to take a 20% cut in his £3,000 special responsibility allowance sugg-ested for opposition leaders.

“This is an independent report but we don’t have to adopt it in total,” he said.

Following the meeting all eight Liberal Democrats — Sue Gadsby, Neville Dewey, Charlie Fraser-Fleming, Craig Card, Crispin Allard, Alistair Mackie, Hazel Manning and Paul Bowers — submitted letters to the council, asking to paid at the level before the rises were introduced.

In the letters, each Lib Dem stated: “I feel that the level of increase agreed does not reflect the current financial restraints being placed upon this council, and that coun-cillors of all parties should be leading by example and refusing to accept any increase in allowances at the present time.”

Speaking after the debate, Labour leader Cllr Dibble said he would be recommending to his four Labour colleagues that they refuse any increases over 2.45%, and he would also offer to take a one-fifth cut in his leader’s allowance.

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